Thankfulness Project Monday

Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day.  ~Robert Caspar Lintner

While Thanksgiving has now passed, the practice of gratitude & thanksgiving doesn't have to pass! With that, here are a few things I'm thankful for at the moment:

• Safety: Especially with more wintery weather upon us, traveling can lead to many unsafe situations, especially with increased holiday traffic. I drove over 30 hours in less then a week, and I'm so thankful that I stayed safe throughout the entire drive. 
• Time With Family: I love holidays as they create a forced vacation & natural time to get together with family & friends. I had an awesome time (with some stressful moments thrown in at times). 
• DELICIOUS food: There's nothing better then wonderful home cooked foods. I enjoy prepping meals with people I care about (not having to cook on my own!) in the kitchen! This last week brought a lot of good conversations, laughter, and sharing of memories while prepping and eating food. 
• Family Workouts: From group runs, to walks, to stretching and pilates in the house, my family tries to be healthy & active during the holidays. This past week was no exception, and I'm thankful that I don't have to do it alone when I'm visiting my family. 
• Christmas Flavored Teas: YUM! There are very few words I have to explain how delicious these are. Celestial has 4 holiday teas, and Bigelow also has a few that are delicious as well! There's nothing better to keep you warm in the Christmas Season then some delicious Christmas tea! 

Now it's your turn:

What are you feeling thankful for today? How do you plan to continue a practice of gratitude after the Thanksgiving season?

Songs of Thankfulness

Stand up, on this Thanksgiving Day, stand upon your feet.  Believe in man.  Soberly and with clear eyes, believe in your own time and place.  There is not, and there never has been a better time, or a better place to live in.  ~Phillips Brooks

All that we behold is full of blessings.  ~William Wordsworth

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.  ~William Arthur Ward

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends in the United States. For all of you who don't like in the U.S. and/or aren't celebrating the actual holiday of Thanksgiving, a few things: first of all, turkey isn't that good anyways, so you aren't missing much (ok...maybe this is just my opinion!) and secondly, you can still express gratitude today! You can jump on in and join in the fun!

I love the last quote that I posted here about expressing gratitude. I challenge each and every one of you reading this to find a way (or multiple ways) to express your gratitude today. Sing the song of thankfulness to those around you, no matter how big or small it is. 

Here are a few of the things I'm thankful for this year:

• My family- Through thick and thin, we are here and standing together. 
• The trips I've gotten to take and the new cultures I've experienced
• My friends- the love, laughter, support, fun, and encouragement I have and get from them is so important and healthy in my life
• A body that can engage in physical activity
• MY JOB. I love it. 
• My clients- I learn so much from them, and appreciate that they are trusting me to come along on their journey
• My blogger friends- Thanks for all you share on your own blogs, as well as commenting and sharing on mine!
• The "little" things that aren't so little- fresh water, a way to easily buy and refrigerate food, heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer, a place to sleep every night, money to pay for my utilities, etc... These are things we take for granted every day, but we really shouldn't... 
• Access to resources to help me grow as a counselor 
• The "fun" things in life: high heels, nail polish, fun music, TV shows - all very good:)

Now it's your turn:

What are you feeling thankful for on this day of thanksgiving? 

Thankfulness Project Monday

Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds.  

~Theodore Roosevelt

Well, here we are at Thanksgiving week! While I try to regularly practice gratitude and thankfulness in my life, for me this week becomes even more focused on this. My challenge for you this week is to not just focus on what you are thankful for, but turn that into action of some kind. Let your deeds show your gratitude!

On this Thanksgiving week, here are a few of the things that I'm thankful for:

• A time of year to intentionally focus on gratitude: I wish that we had more than a day to focus on thanks every year, but I'm very glad that we have a holiday that is devoted to it. My hope would be that each of you chooses to take a more active stance in the practice of gratitude this coming year. This will be one of my goals this year as well. 
• 2 for the price of 1 Holiday Drinks at Starbucks: For the weekend, Starbucks had a 2 for 1 deal that I wish they would continue all season long! I went with a friend, got a venti (I always order a tall), because splitting the cost of a venti is still cheaper then the cost of a tall alone. So, we both got venti peppermint mochas. I drank half of it last night, and saved the rest for today. Not quite as good, but still pretty amazing in my opinion. Yummmm. 
• The excitement that comes with anticipation: I'm SO excited for both Thanksgiving and the start of the Christmas season. I love the celebrations and the time with family! I love holiday foods and the joy and laughter that holiday activities bring with it. Needless to say, despite some nervousness over some extended family issues (eek), I'm REALLY excited for Thanksgiving. 
• Healthy Living Blogs: There are so many blogs out there that help provide the encouragement and motivation I need, are helping me increase my cooking abilities, and increasing my knowledge about various sorts of fitness. The other counselors I've "met" out there have been a great support through various weekly chats and posts, and I've gained some great ideas from them. 
• My Ice Packs: I use my ice packs 5-6 days a week to help after any number of fitness activities I engage in throughout the week. I can usually tell when I don't have time to ice, as I'm stiff and achy the next day. I'm thankful that someone created ice in a pre-sealed "bag" to make this process easy and convenient. 

Now it's your turn:

What are you feeling thankful for today? What are you excited for this week?

Introduction to Thanksgiving Week

Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day.  ~Robert Caspar Lintner

I'm anxiously looking forward to a week with extended family, fun exercise, and healthy eating (and some absolutely delicious desserts)! Because all of us in the United States are busy prepping for Thanksgiving fun, it's easy to miss blog posts. Here's what you might have missed:

Live Your Life
Wellness Wednesday: Setting Up An Exercise Routine
You Don't Understand
Pumpkin Pie Greek Yogurt <- Perfect for Thanksgiving Week!
Practice of Gratitude & Thankfulness <- As we prepare for Thanksgiving week, can you commit to doing one thing from this list of ideas to help increase the gratitude in life?

I started this post with the above quote because I believe it's SO TRUE. Whether you live in a country that is celebrating Thanksgiving this week or not, we can all still be thankful. We aren't meant to be thankful just one or two days a year. What would life be like if we lived it out of a place of thankfulness and gratitude?

Now it's your turn:
How do you prepare for Thanksgiving Week? What will you commit to doing this week to express your gratitude? 

The Practice of Gratitude and Thankfulness

The very first post I wrote on this blog was entitled "The Thankfulness Project" (check it out here). On Thanksgiving we focus on what we're thankful for, but after the day is over and we're consuming our copious amounts of delicious leftovers, we easily forget to continue living a life of gratitude. The practice of gratitude and daily thankfulness is incredibly healthy for us, both physically and mentally.

I recently stumbled across an article entitled "Boost Your Health With A Dose Of Gratitude". In the article, the author outlined a number of benefits that the practice of thankfulness has on our lives:

• It helps decrease our stress levels: The article suggests that: "Gratitude research is beginning to suggest that feelings of thankfulness have tremendous positive value in helping people cope with daily problems, especially stress," Because stress accounts for 80-90% of all physical illness, when we choose to actively combat our stress, we help decrease our likelihood to get sick. 
• Regularly thankful people are more likely to engage in self care behaviors
• Immune Buster: When we are thankful, we have a more optimistic view on our life. The article suggests that: "Optimism also has a positive health impact on people with compromised health. In separate studies, patients confronting AIDS, as well as those preparing to undergo surgery, had better health outcomes when they maintained attitudes of optimism."

In another article on CNN, they outlined a few other benefits of thankfulness: 

University of California at Davis researchers found that practicing gratitude can lower your blood pressure and make you feel less hostile. Grateful people are less angry, less negative and usually look for the cup half full. Studies by Cornell University researchers have shown that those who are thankful appear to have lower risks of developing phobias, alcoholism, even depression. They even have stronger immune systems.

That sounds like a good deal, doesn't it? Are you convinced yet that the practice of thankfulness is beneficial to your life? Obviously it's not enough to realize that we need Thankfulness in life to be healthy. We need to take it one step further and develop a regular practice of gratitude in life. Here are a few suggestions:

• Create a Thankfulness Journal: Keep a notebook on your nightstand and write it in it every morning or evening. Can you think of 5 things every day that you are thankful for? These can be anything "having a bed to sleep in" to "a promotion at work" or "my child didn't wake me up at all last night". When we start to develop this practice, we automatically start looking for things throughout the day to put on our list. This helps us develop mindfulness with gratitude. 
• Choose 1 day a week to write a quick note or email to someone who you feel thankful for: It doesn't have to be long, but expressing our thanks to someone is healthy. Again, it doesn't have to be something huge. Maybe a co-worker picked up coffee for you on a tough day! Take time to write a few quick sentences to let them know how much you appreciated it!
• Challenge the Cognitive Distortions in Life: Distorted thinking will change your positive thoughts to negative and irrational thinking. This steals joy and gratitude from our lives. Learn to Challenge and Change your Distorted thoughts. 
• Develop a Gratitude Practice at Dinner Each Night: As a family, have each member around the table list one or two things they are thankful for from the day. This will allow each member to hear a number of positive aspects of the day, and will get children in the practice of gratitude from a young age. 

This is what it comes to. If you don't have a practice of gratitude in life, what's the alternative? If you aren't focusing on gratitude and the positive in life, what are you focusing on in life? How does this affect your mood, your relationships, and your overall health?

I challenge you to start a daily practice of gratitude in life. Develop a Thankfulness Project routine in life to help each member in your family increase their overall health and wellness. It's something quick and easy to do that yields great results. Again, what's the alternative?

Now it's your turn:

Do you have a regular practice of gratitude in life? If you do, what steps do you take? If not- what has led to you not practicing this regularly? What is one thing you could commit to this month that will lead to developing a practice of gratitude? 

A reflection of a week of Family, Food, and Being Thankful...

Well, another Thanksgiving has come and gone, and we have now entered into the crazy Christmas season. This week was really wonderful. With family it's always a tricky balance in deciding when to stand up for yourself (and now allow yourself to be a doormat!) and removing yourself from situations which will quickly disintegrate. I definitely got to practice this balance this weekend, and feel like I did a pretty good job balancing and maintaining the boundaries I have set. The time that I spent with some of my family members was incredibly precious to me, as I know time with them is very short.
I've been reflecting a lot on how different my life is now compared to last Thanksgiving. This year certainly had twists and turns and pain that I couldn't even imagine as I stuffed my face with Turkey last year. However, this year had lots of joy, laughter, traveling, and accomplishment that I will always remember. So, I guess when it comes down to it, I'm overwhelming thankful that I could stand with family and friends and survive the year, through the ups and downs, and still be able to laugh and love. Humans are surprisingly resilient, and I'm very thankful for this.

So now, the transition into parties, snacking, stress, planning, and celebrations is upon us. Instead of waiting until January 1st to "Start Over" or set healthy goals, why not start right now? The month of December doesn't have to be a waste in regards to your health. So why not take a few moments to reflect on your life and set a few small goals for the month to help you maintain health. (see my previous post for setting healthy goals that you will be successful in meeting!) Some possible categories: Stress, Organization, Food, Working Out, or Relationships. Let me know how you're taking control of your health during the holidays!